NASCAR centerpiece: Defining the line

Monday

Jul 26, 2010 at 12:01 AMJul 26, 2010 at 9:18 AM

When it comes to “have at it,” how far is too far?

Rob Sneddon

In January, NASCAR extended an invitation to its drivers for the 2010 season: “Boys, have at it.” Ever since, through numerous driver feuds – including two high-profile paybacks in which Carl Edwards wrecked Brad Keselowski – there’s been an intense debate about what exactly that directive means. NASCAR’s position remains vague. After the first Edwards-Keselowski encounter, at Atlanta, the sanctioning body essentially took no action. “There is a line you can cross,” NASCAR president Mike Helton asserted at the time, without offering specifics. “When you cross that line, in our opinion, we're going to get involved.” Indeed, NASCAR got involved last week, fining Edwards $25,000 and docking him 60 points in the Nationwide series after Edwards spun Keselowski on the last lap at Gateway International Raceway, triggering a 10-car crash. But while that penalty may have demonstrated that the line exists, it still didn’t spell out where the line was. And so the meaning of “Boys, have at it” remains a matter of opinion – and there’s been no shortage of that this season. Here’s a sampling.

Brian France, NASCAR chairman and CEO: “Some contact, especially late in the race, is part of NASCAR. There are limits to that. The limits are pretty obvious. You can't just spin somebody around, especially intentionally. That's No. 1.”

David Reutimann, driver, No. 00 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota: “If you draw a line in the sand, then you’re saying you can do everything up to that line and it’s OK, but anything over that, it’s not. I don’t think you can do that. … I think it’s just going to be (reviewed) on a race-by-race basis.”

Jeff Gordon, driver, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet: “I’m anxious to see how far it’s going to be taken before (NASCAR does) step in or if they step in. Who’s to say where that line is at right now? I definitely have some questions to kind of try to clarify that a little bit for myself.”

Chip Ganassi, co-owner, Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing: “Each (driver) should be allowed one (aggressive) move. But I don’t think you should be allowed to use your car as a weapon … and I don’t think that’s what NASCAR had in mind when they said, 'Boys, have at it.' I’m positive they didn’t have that in mind. They certainly don’t want to hurt anybody.”

Kevin Harvick, driver, No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet: “With the leash let off, everybody wants to gain that position and you have to get aggressive to pass because the competition is so close. Sometimes you make mistakes and you run into guys and people get mad and things escalate from there. … It seems to get more exciting every week and it seems like we come home with more bent fenders every week. That’s OK. As long as it’s good to watch and everybody is racing hard, that’s what it's all about.”

Marcos Ambrose, driver, No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Toyota: “What NASCAR does really, really well is they let the racers have it out on the track. They let the emotions come to the surface so the fans can see it and the drivers can work it out between themselves. We don’t have to duke it out in a stewards hearing or officials hearing on a Tuesday down in Daytona Beach. Nobody wants to see that. That’s just a mess. You've got to watch it, obviously, that you don't let it go too far out of hand. … The way it is right now, I think it’s a great mix.”

Jack Roush, co-owner, Roush Fenway Racing: “When NASCAR looked at what they needed to do to stimulate more interest in the fans, to sell more tickets, to have better TV viewership, they thought they should let the drivers take the gloves off – not that they should roll around on the ground, but they should be more free to express themselves, they should be more willing to make a decision on the racetrack that might result in something that’s questionable (without worrying) what they can or can't do in advance. … We’re not going to make a brawl out of it. But to have people express their emotions and show their frustration is OK.”

Carl Edwards, driver, No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford: “It’s not OK to move me out of the way. If somebody else wants to let people move them out of the way for the win, that’s OK with me. They can do whatever they like, but I can’t allow myself to be run over like that.”

ONE TO WATCH: Denny Hamlin

WHY HE MATTERS: Two straight Pocono wins make him Sunday’s favorite.

WHAT HE SAYS: “I just search around (at Pocono) and seem to find what works.”

WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY: Think Hamlin (four wins in nine career starts) would like to see Pocono added to the Chase?

NEXT RACE Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500, Pocono Raceway

THE LOWDOWN Pocono is old (built in 1971). It’s big (2½ miles). It’s flat. It has low walls. Not a good combination. Richard Petty almost flew out of the park in a 1980 crash. Thirty years later, one of Petty’s drivers, Kasey Kahne, came even closer. Kahne’s last-lap wreck in June, in which his car struck one of the decorative shrubs just beyond the barrier along the backstretch, has renewed calls to upgrade the aging superspeedway. Greg Biffle, to Sports Illustrated: “They’re going to kill somebody there.”

PAST WINNERS

2009 Denny Hamlin

2008 Carl Edwards

2007 Kurt Busch

2006 Denny Hamlin

2005 Kurt Busch

ABOUT Pocono

TRACK: Pocono Raceway (Long Pond, Pa.), 2.5-mile paved oval

RACE LENGTH: 200 laps, 500 miles

FIRST NASCAR RACE: 1974

SERIES: NASCAR Sprint Cup

Quote of note

“Everybody was ready to kiss us off. We knew that wasn't the case.” – Chip Ganassi, whose team struggled in recent seasons but has won the two biggest races of 2010.

Where to watch

Sunday’s pre-race show on ESPN starts at noon EDT, followed by race coverage at 1:00.

UP TO SPEED

Follow the bouncing bubble

There’s been little drama atop the 2010 Sprint Cup points standings over the first 20 races. Aside from the first week, when Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray held the top spot, and a month in the spring when Jimmie Johnson took command, it’s been the Kevin Harvick show (see chart). The real churn has been at 12th place in the standings – the cutoff to make the Chase. Through 20 races 12 drivers have occupied 12th place. Clint Bowyer has been on the bubble the most, five separate times in a topsy-turvy season that’s seen him climb as high as second and fall as low as 15th. With just six weeks remaining until the Chase, expect the battle for the bubble to grow even more competitive.

Brickyard 400 winners and losers

Obviously, Jamie McMurray was the biggest winner at Indianapolis last Sunday, as he became just the third driver to take the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same season. But McMurray wasn’t the only winner. The man who pays the bills on McMurray’s No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi, completed an unprecedented hat trick by winning Daytona (with McMurray, obviously), the Indy 500 (with Dario Franchitti) and the Brickyard 400 in the same year. Biggest loser? McMurray’s teammate, Juan Pablo Montoya. For the second straight year Montoya led the most laps but lost the race in the pits. He opted for four tires on a pivotal late stop while other contenders, including McMurray, took two. Montoya got caught in traffic and wrecked. He took Dale Earnhardt Jr., the day’s next-biggest loser with him. Earnhardt fell to 14th in the standings, almost 100 points off the bubble. Another winner? Roush Fenway Racing, which put all three of its Chase contenders in the top 12, including Greg Biffle, who led 38 laps while finishing third – an indication that perhaps RFR’s victory drought could end soon.

Milestone

Kevin Conway, who leads the 2010 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year standings by default, led the first lap of his career early in the Brickyard 400.

WEEKLY STATS

Drivers on the bubble, by week

RACE PTS. LEADER BUBBLE DRIVER

Daytona Jamie McMurray Jeff Burton

Fontana Kevin Harvick Jimmie Johnson

Las Vegas Harvick Kyle Busch

Atlanta Harvick Jeff Gordon

Bristol Harvick Clint Bowyer

Martinsville Jimmie Johnson Brian Vickers

Phoenix Johnson Kyle Busch

Fort Worth Johnson Joey Logano

Talladega Johnson Burton

Richmond Harvick Bowyer

Darlington Harvick Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dover Harvick Martin Truex Jr.

Charlotte Harvick Ryan Newman

Pocono Harvick Bowyer

Michigan Harvick Mark Martin

Sonoma Harvick Carl Edwards

Loudon Harvick Edwards

Daytona Harvick Edwards

Chicago Harvick Bowyer

Indianapolis Harvick Bowyer

*Active, full-time drivers with at least 4 Pocono starts

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